Museum sought to house computer collection

Computer enthusiast Clinton Rowe in one of the several
rooms used in his Dunedin home to house his retro
electronics collection. Photo by Linda Robertson.

A Dunedin man has spent more than $100,000 on 1980s
electronics and wants internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom to
finance a museum to exhibit the collection.

Otago Girls' High School IT technician Clinton Rowe (39) said
he would like a museum built in Dunedin to exhibit the
computers, game consoles, televisions and other 1980s
electronics he had collected in the past seven years.

''The museum will be part retro and part historic.''

Most obsolete computers were dumped in landfill but the
design of 1980s electronics was art for display, he said.

The electronics had a unique look and design before
electronics in the 1990s began looking similar, Mr Rowe said.

The collection filled five rooms of his Dunedin home and
ranged from a Commodore Pet to an Amiga 500, he said.

He collected several of the same model of computer and
consoles so an educational laboratory demonstration wing
could be built at the museum. Most of his collection had been
bought online. He recently purchased a New Zealand-made Poly
computer for $1300, ''which was probably five times more than
what it was worth''.

The Poly computer sold well in New Zealand until ''Apple
edged them out with predatory pricing'', Mr Rowe said.

He estimated he had spent more than $100,000 on the
collection, with more than $10,000 of that on postage because
most of the sellers were from the North Island. The size of
the collection meant he had to live alone because there was
no room for flatmates and the cost of the collection meant he
had postponed renovations on his house. However, he had never
rued starting the collection, he said.

''My only regret will be if the museum never pans out.''

He emailed Mr Dotcom about financing the museum earlier this
week and was waiting on a reply from the ''social crusader'',
he said.

Te Jackle: Okay, I will bite but it is pretty hard to respond
to such rhetoric and pre-made up conclusions. At this
stage I consider the most realistic option is to find private
funding. Computer museums around the world haved struggled to
get any public funding as till now I think the need and
importance of preserving a country's technological and
computing history has not been understood. I also believe we
need an alternative to the school curriculum for educating
about technology.

I think it would be great idea to have the opportunity to
access another bit of history reminding today's
children what yesterday's children used to do.
Especially consider the fast growing nature of computers it's
nice to remind kids that once upon a time we sat on the
computer for over an hour loading a tape into an amstrad
before we could use it, I think playing outside for an
hour until a game had loaded is an unknown concept
to kids now days. Why not Kim Dotcom? or
the Council and the local early settlers museum adding a
wing on for a bit of history that is a vital part of the
future. My hat goes off to you for thinking of
someone other than yourself and offering this opportunity to
the public if it gets off the ground - good luck!

And why should Mr Dotcome finance your museum? This sounds
like your hobby not his, perhaps you need to sort your
priorities instead of blowing all your money on un-useable
junk in the hope someone will give up theirs for your hobby.
A roof over your head or a house full of junk.